Homecoming Queen
by BigRed502
Summary: After a chance meeting, Michael Vaughn finds himself trying to find out the secret hidden in Sydney Bristow’s eyes.


**Title: Homecoming Queen**

**Summary: After a chance meeting, Michael Vaughn finds himself trying to find out the secret hidden in Sydney Bristow's eyes.**

**Song: "Homecoming Queen" by Hinder**

_It's been five years since I've seen her face  
She's the holy ghost lost without a trace  
And now were left with the what ifs_

"Sydney? Is that you?"

"M-Michael, wow, you look so different." Sydney Bristow commented, as she took in his appearance in the airport terminal's fluorescent lighting.

"Good different?" Michael Vaughn asked, smiling at her.

"Great different." Sydney replied with a dimpled smile of her own. "What have you been up to?"

"Well, I went back and got my masters degree in engineering from USC and a job at a local company. How about you?"

"I've had a few jobs here and there, nothing steady though." Sydney answered vaguely.

"What brings you back to Columbia?" Michael asked as they gathered their luggage from different baggage claims. He was curious as to what brought her back to their town of Columbia, South Carolina. The last he had seen her was at graduation from USC five years previously.

_It's been five years since she left for LA  
She's an angel with a dirty face_

"I'm moving back." She admitted and they took their two bags a piece out of the airport terminal.

"You don't have a lot of stuff." Michael observed.

"I travel light." Sydney gave him a fake smile but something in her eyes told him there was more to the story than she was telling him. He suddenly had the desire to find out what exactly the difference was between the Sydney he once knew and the one standing before him.

_And it seems to me  
She's a casualty of all the pressure  
That we put on her  
And now we've lost her for good_

"Would you like to go out for coffee sometime?" He asked boldly. Noticing the weary expression on her face he added, "I just want to catch up, a lot's changed in our little town." When she smiled he knew she had gotten his joke. While Columbia wasn't the smallest Southern town in South Carolina, it certainly wasn't the largest either. It ranked somewhere in between and the topic had been a constant topic while growing up in the state's capitol.

"Sure." Sydney wrote down her cell phone number on a small piece of paper and gave it to him before waving goodbye and getting in a cab.

_It's such a shame shame shame  
That our homecoming queen  
Was a lot like you and a lot like me  
And she never walked on water  
Guess no one really saw her_

"Hey, Sydney, this is Michael- Michael Vaughn." He corrected nervously after she picked up the phone on her end.

"Oh, hi." Sydney replied. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you were free this afternoon for that cup of coffee?" He explained, feeling his palms sweat and hoping he wouldn't drop the phone. He didn't know when he suddenly became nervous about talking to her, but it probably stemmed from the fact that he couldn't stop thinking about her in the last four days.

"Definitely, I have a huge hangover."

_She was so adored by everyone  
When it came to looks she was next to none  
But loved partying and having too much fun_

Michael sat in the Starbucks, nervously watching the door for Sydney. After getting over the initial shock of hearing that she had gotten drunk the night before, he had invited her to the Starbucks down the block from him. Waiting around his house for a few hours gave him plenty of time to wonder about her and reminisce about college.

"Hey!" Sydney smiled, sitting down across the table from him and stopping him from his thoughts.

"Hey, how are you?"

"Tired." Sydney sighed.

"Big night last night?" Michael asked as the barista dropped off their order.

"Party for one, if you know what I mean." Sydney laughed and took a sip of her drink. "Okay, how did you remember that?" She asked him after finding her coffee the same way she had always gotten it.

"I just remember you always liked it like that in college and hoped your taste hadn't changed." Michael chucked, shrugging it off.

"That's so random."

"I have a tendency to remember odd little facts… Similar to the one about you moving off to California with a guy." Michael wondered aloud. "What happened with him?"

"Oh, nothing." Sydney looked away, not meeting his eyes and focusing on her coffee. Something about her response struck Michael as strange and he wondered if it had anything to do with her behavior at the airport.

"Common, Syd, you can tell me." He told her honestly.

"Well, when I first moved I was so happy to be with him and living in a totally new place, but then I guess I just saw it all for what it really was." Sydney answered. "So, here I am." She added softly.

"You wanna talk about it?" Michael offered.

"Not today."

_Then she hooked up with the wrong someone  
And he promised everything under the sun  
And it seems to me  
She's a casualty of all the pressure  
That he put on her  
And now we've lost her for good_

"I had a great time Michael." Sydney stood on her doorstep later that night with Michael. After coffee they had decided on going to a movie together and ended up eating dinner too. It almost seemed like a date and Michael wasn't opposed to the idea.

"I'm glad I could 'show you around'. We should do it again sometime." Michael smiled awkwardly. He wasn't sure how to make his exit and wondered if Sydney could tell he was nervous.

"Sure." Sydney smiled, taking him by surprise and kissing his cheek. "Call me." She whispered, disappearing behind the door a second later.

_It's such a shame shame shame  
That our homecoming queen  
Was a lot like you and a lot like me  
And she never walked on water  
Cause no one really saw her_

Sydney and Michael spent the next three months building their relationship. They quickly moved from just friends to a couple and Michael was deliriously happy. Sydney was one of the most amazing people he had ever met and she made him laugh. They got along well and hardly ever fought. Having been friends since college, they had a lot to talk about stuff from that time and in between, although they never touched on the true reason why Sydney returned from California.

One night as they lay on the couch together, Michael was absently stroking Sydney's arm as she was snuggled up against him peacefully. It occurred to him that now was the perfect time to tell Sydney what he had been thinking of recently.

"Syd?" He mumbled, and she looked up at him from her book she had been reading.

"Yeah?"

"I love you." He admitted. She seemed surprised by this and sat up quickly. He could see her take a deep breath and thought she was preparing for what she was going to say back. What she said wasn't exactly what he had planned on and definitely not the answer he was looking for.

"I can't." She whispered and ran out the door.

_Well I never knew you  
Wish I could've saved you  
From losers that drained you  
Before you got strung out  
With so much potential  
How could you let us down_

"Are you here to explain?" Michael grumbled when he opened the door five days later and found Sydney on his doorstep. He had been sulking in his anger since that night and was looking forward to her explanation. He didn't think she could come up with something that would justify her actions.

"Yes." She said quietly, stepping past him when he opened the door wider.

"Any time now…" Michael mumbled as he waited for Sydney to start. She took a deep breath before opening her mouth.

"My last boyfriend told me he loved me, and then he cheated on me."

"Okay…" Michael waited for her to explain further. He could understand that she might be worried about the possibility of it happening with him, but he wanted to hear her say it.

"And then he hit me when I tried to leave." She gulped and swallowed back a sob. Michael rethought his anger towards her as a single tear rolled down her cheek. He questioned why he had been so stubborn and uncaring towards her the last week. It hurt him to see her cry. He couldn't take being mad at her and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, Syd." He said softly. "And I want you to know I'd never do that to you." He promised, kissing her gently.

"Thanks."

"You want me to go kick his ass?" He pulled back and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.

"No, I already did." Sydney smiled slightly.

"That's the Sydney I know." Michael smiled back, kissing her again. She kissed him back passionately and they stumbled their way into the bedroom.

_It's such a shame shame shame  
That our homecoming queen  
Had a lot to prove and so many to please  
She's just somebody's daughter  
Just looking for somebody to love her_

"That's a new Sydney I really like." Michael smirked; his arm around Sydney's bare back as she snuggled up to him. She smacked his chest playfully.

"Shut up." She blushed.

"Or what; you'll kick my ass?" Michael teased.

"Your ass is too cute to kick." Sydney smiled.

_She's just somebody's daughter  
Just looking for somebody to love her_

**{Fin}**


End file.
